Making a Declaration of Dependence

Matthew 11:25-30
(message shared with the people of Friendship Church, July 3, 2005)

"Life's greatest burden," says William Willimon, a Methodist theologian and bishop I respect a lot, "is not having too much to do, but in having nothing worthwhile to do."

Everybody"s busy, it seems. But not many are sure that the things with which they're busy really matter.

I don't know who first said it, but I think it's true: "We're such slaves to the tyranny of the urgent that we neglect to do what's important."

In our Bible lesson, Jesus tells us, "Come to Me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."

I have always thought that in those words, Jesus was inviting us to cast aside
all the oppressive ways of living,
all the sins,
and all the scurrying we do to prove ourselves to an often bruising and demanding world and instead...
simply accept the acceptance and thrive in the love that comes to those who quit fighting Him and allow Him to wrap His arms of forgiveness, love, and hope around us.

I still think that's what He means.

But, as one should suspect of the rich language used by the big God of all creation--which is Who Jesus is, after all--I've come to believe that's only part of what Jesus is inviting us to do when He says, "Come to Me, and I will give you rest."

There's something more. The hint of what that something more is can be found in the words Jesus speaks after saying, "I will give you rest." He tells us: "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

A yoke, you know, is a wooden bar put on the backs of oxen so that they can do work out in the fields. So far as I know, a yoke is never put on just one ox. Yokes are put on two oxen or a team of them. Jesus says, "Take My yoke upon you."

What's He saying? I think this: "I've got work I'm doing. I'm giving the love and provision of God away to the whole human family, so that all who follow Me will have life forever with God. It's sometimes hard work. It requires self-sacrifice and devotion. I laid down My life for this end. But it's fulfilling work. It's joyful work. And I want you to get in harness and join me in doing it! It'll be the lightest burden you've ever felt because finally, you won't feel that you've got too much to do or that you're doing something foreign to your God-given nature; you'll feel that you're doing exactly what you were made to do. Because you will be!"

In today's Bible lesson, Jesus is inviting us to a new way of living. By turning from sin and the death-bound ways of the world, Jesus empowers us to experience the sense of purpose for which we were made!

He gives us the ability to make the right choices, the ones that honor Him, provide adequately for our families, serve others, and fulfill our desire to be useful as well as busy. That's the yoke that Jesus wants to place on our shoulders.

I believe everyone would love to wear that yoke. Everyone wants to feel that their lives have some purpose, that they're useful to God and others. Do you remember that line in the old Beatles tune, Good Morning?: "Somebody needs to know the time; glad that I'm here." That line was like journaling for John Lennon, who wrote it. Here he was, one of the most successful musicians in the history of the world and somebody asking him the time made him feel that his life was worthwhile.

There is a certain innocent joy that comes to us when we feel that, in however small a way it might be, We're doing God's work for us, loving God and our neighbor.

When I was a kid, like all kids I suppose, I drove my mother nuts whenever she told me to do something. That's because my first response was to ask her, "Why?" Even children don't want to be burdened with doing things that don't matter. But, a child who feels that she or he has something significant to do will amaze us. Last year, we had a rummage sale here at the building. When it came time to load the leavings onto a truck from the Salvation Army, a very pre-Kindergarten member of our congregation worked rings around us, helping. She felt that she had something important to do.

This, I believe, exemplifies what Jesus is talking about in the prayer that opens our Bible lesson today: "I thank You, Father, because you have hidden these things [by things, Jesus means the facts about how life is changed by following Him] from the wise and intelligent [that is, from the people who allow their lives to be strangled by the paralysis of analysis] and have revealed them to infants." The word for infants in the original Greek of the New Testament, means babies incapable even of talking, incapable of fending for themselves. Jesus reveals Himself to those courageous enough to make a declaration of their dependence on Him!

The yoke of lives set free from futility comes to those who stop long enough to simply let Jesus love them...who have had enough of lives lived only for the almighty buck, or the high opinions of others...and who are ready to live with the sense of purpose I saw in that little girl at the end of our rummage sale last year.

They declare their dependence on God and let themselves be harnessed with Jesus in doing His will and His work in the world. When we allow the love and acceptance of God, given to us through Christ, to saturate our lives, we'll choose doing the important over against doing the urgent and even when we're busy, we'll be at peace. Our hearts and our souls will be have true rest.

Last week, Sean stopped by our house to see me. Sean grew up in this congregation and I believe that if it weren't for his work schedule, he'd be here with us on Sunday mornings. At one point in our talk, he mentioned his future father-in-law. A retired airline pilot, he could be sitting back enjoying pino coladas anywhere on the planet. But a few months ago, he began a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in some remote and primitive village in Africa. As Sean described his future father-in-law's experiences there, I couldn't help but think of the Peace Corps motto of a few years back: The toughest job you'll ever love. He seems to be working hard while being totally unencumbered by burdens!

It's possible that you and I can't afford to go off to Africa like that. But I'll tell you something else we can't afford: We can't afford not to heed Jesus' call to take His yoke on our lives, whatever our work, whatever our stations, whatever our ages, because it's only in Jesus that we find rest for our souls, purpose in our living, and hope for our futures.

Now, what is this yoke that Jesus wants us to bear?

Pure and simple, I believe it means submitting to allowing Him to be our God and the One Who saves us from sin, death, and futility.

I think it also means letting His purposes for us become our purposes for us. You know well God's five purposes for us:

making God smile by our total devotion to Him;

loving and participating in the life of God's family, the Church;

actively surrendering to God's work of making us more like Jesus;

serving God by serving His Church;

and sharing the hope that we have through Christ with others.

I believe further that we fulfill these purposes when we adopt those seven habits of joyful people that we talk so much about at Friendship: encouraging others; giving to God's causes in the world; inviting others to know Jesus; praying in order to praise God and ask God's help for others and ourselves; serving others in Jesus' Name; studying God's Word; and regularly joining God's people in worship.

But it all begins when we let Jesus put His yoke on us. Let's pray: "Lord Jesus, give our souls rest. Help us to rest easy in the certainty that when we turn away from the world's standard operating procedures and turn instead to You, we're one with God forever. Help us to willingly take the yoke you place on Your followers and harnessed with You, live for Your purposes, the ones You created just for us. Amen"